


Office Hours

by lovelivesinthedream



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, office!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-26
Updated: 2016-01-26
Packaged: 2018-05-16 07:49:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5820214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelivesinthedream/pseuds/lovelivesinthedream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By a stroke of luck, the room is empty when he gets to it. See? Clearly this is a sign from the Corporate Gods that Chanyeol is meant to carry out this task here today. His prank must be completed.  It is fate. Destiny. The will of the universe!</p><p>or: <br/>Chanyeol likes to play pranks around the office, and Jongin, Kyungsoo's new assistant, catches him in the act.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Office Hours

**Author's Note:**

> originally written for puppiesinlove on lj. thanks to the prompter, the mods and anyone that reads!

“Did you hear about Do’s new assistant?” Baekhyun asks, leaning over the dividing wall between their cubicles to gossip like one of the old ladies at the laundry mat. Excitement shines in his eyes, and his butt is wiggling behind him. If he had a tail, it would be wagging fast enough to stir up all the dust in the air. 

Sehun pops up from his own cubicle, hair artfully windswept and mouth downturned in a pout. “I saw him come in this morning. He looked like he’d just stepped off a runway or came here straight from a photoshoot. Well,” Sehun pauses and taps his chin thoughtfully, “until he tripped and spilled his coffee all over the marble in the front lobby. Then he kind of looked like a kicked puppy.”

“So it’s true?! He really is too cute for this frigid corporate world of betrayals and heartbreak? I thought Yifan must have been exaggerating, but this is so much better.” Baekhyun claps his hands together giddily, cackling. “Kyungsoo is going to eat him alive!”

Chanyeol snorts into his own cup of lukewarm coffee, only half-listening as he reads over the disheartening reports from accounting. The deal for the new account is never going to be pushed through based on these dismal projections of profit margins for the next four quarters. Chanyeol scrunches his nose and blindly reaches out to poke Baekhyun. “You make it sound like we’re living out a Saturday night drama on SBS.”

“Who says we’re not?” Baekhyun stares straight off into space and winks like he’s on The Office or something. Sehun tumbles down behind his own cubicle divider, laughing. They can all hear his computer chair collide with his desk and muffled swearing through his giggles. Chanyeol glances up quickly enough to see Baekhyun grinning to himself, small and private, pleased to be the cause of Sehun’s laughter. 

Watching this cheesy office romance play out in front of his very eyes makes him think that maybe they are living a Saturday night SBS drama after all. Chanyeol shakes his head and goes back to reading mind-numbingly tedious reports.

*****

Chanyeol is sure to be extra casual as he walks toward the breakroom three weeks later. There’s no need to draw attention to himself. It always manages to give him away when he tries to act sneaky. He waves to Miss Kwon over by the elevators, and he nods in a friendly manner to Miss Kim outside the bathroom, pausing to briefly wink with extra grease just for Minseok. Yixing grins at him, dimples brightening up the whole atmosphere of the office instantly. 

So far, so good. Nobody seems to suspect anything. There’s a steady thrum of anticipation beating through his chest as he makes his way, completely inconspicuously, to the breakroom. 

By a stroke of luck, the room is empty when he gets to it. See? Clearly, this is a sign from the Corporate Gods that Chanyeol is meant to carry out this task here today. His prank must be completed. It is fate. Destiny. The will of the universe!

Who is Chanyeol to question the universe, right? Or at least that’s what he’ll say if he gets caught. 

He knows exactly where he needs to go to finish his quest: in the bottom cupboard closest to the refrigerator, on the left shelf and behind an old box of nasty granola bars, Do Kyungsoo keeps his own private store of sugar in a cute little container. It’s the real stuff that comes in those thick bags next to the flour at grocery stores. The kind of stuff that tastes a thousand times better than the artificial, diet ‘sweetener’ in the tiny yellow packets that the company tries to pawn off as sugar to all the employees. 

He knows it belongs to Kyungsoo because it says, in bold, blood red sharpie across the lid of the air-tight sealed container, **_Property of Do. Touch upon pain of death._** Ah, how very like their pocket-sized overlord. Chanyeol can’t help the fond grin that grows on his lips when he sees the threat.

It is with no small amount of bravery that Chanyeol eases off the lid of the container. He almost expects to be struck by lightning the second his fingers touch the plastic, or for Kyungsoo to suddenly materialize behind him with a sharp weapon and a swift kick to the shin. Instead, more realistically, he’s met with only the gentle hum of the refrigerator and the ghost of a breeze coming in the slightly cracked open window. 

A quick glance around the room confirms that he’s definitely, 100%, undoubtedly alone, and he seizes this golden opportunity to finish his task. The sugar falls in a paper cup like sand through an hour glass. He’s careful to be quick but meticulous. One spilled grain left behind on the counter as evidence is all it would take for this whole operation to come crumbling down around him. 

Okay, so maybe Chanyeol’s a little overdramatic when he’s having fun. 

Once Kyungsoo’s precious supply is safely tucked away in the back corner on the highest shelf (where poor, tiny Kyungsoo will _never_ be able to look, muahahaha), Chanyeol pulls out the salt and pops it open. The end is in sight. His mission is almost over. It’s so close, and everything is going exactly as it should. He almost can’t believe how lucky he is today – 

“What are you doing?!”

Well, damn. He was soooo close to getting away with it. 

Chanyeol scratches at the back of his neck with one hand and glances sheepishly up from where he’s very clearly filling Kyungsoo’s sugar dish with salt. He’s met with wide dark eyes glaring at him accusingly, and plump lips dropped open in horror. 

Before Chanyeol has time to blink, much less come up with a convincing excuse, the guy is barreling towards him and pushing him away from Kyungsoo’s sugar dish. He hesitantly sticks his pinky finger in the white crystals and slowly raises it to his tongue. His nose scrunches up cutely when the salt hits his taste buds. 

Chanyeol tries to disguise his laughter as a cough, but it’s too late. He’s already drawn the guy’s attention back to himself. 

“Mr. Do is going to be furious! He hates when people-”

Chanyeol doesn’t mean to space out during this guy’s tirade, but he can’t help it. 

For one thing, he’s not afraid of Do Kyungsoo. At all. They’ve been friends since they were in diapers, and it’s just really hard to find someone frightening when one has seen that person eat grass on the playground, cry over skinned knees, and beg to be able to stay up past eleven during sleepovers. Chanyeol is officially immune to Do Kyungsoo’s death glare and empty threats. 

And for another thing, this guy is ridiculously beautiful. His eyes are dark, framed by a fan of long eyelashes. High cheek bones taper off to a chin and jawline that is sharp enough to cut. Chocolate colored hair falls softly, parted neatly to the left. He’s wearing black framed glasses that might be born of necessity, but Chanyeol has his suspicions that they’re simply a fashion accessory. There’s no denying that they look hot on this gorgeous guy with his long legs and broad chest that his tailored suit are doing nothing to hide. How has Chanyeol never met this man before? How is that possible? Does the world hate him?

Chanyeol suddenly remembers Baekhyun and Sehun gossiping over his cubicle a few weeks ago. And well, there’s really only one person this could be.

“Kim Jongin?” he blurts out, interrupting the stranger’s rant. He laughs and waves his hands. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to stop you, but you’re Kim Jongin, right? The CEO’s new assistant?”

The beautiful guy – Jongin – nods unsurely like he’s afraid Chanyeol’s trying to trick him somehow. 

Chanyeol beams, smile faltering slightly when Jongin’s eyes widen. Baekhyun’s warned him before that his smile is a little creepy when he’s showing all his teeth like that, something about a manic look in his eyes, but Chanyeol’s always written it off as a joke. Now, though, he doesn’t like the unsettled swoop in his stomach when Jongin takes a half-step away from him as if scared. This is turning out all wrong.

“Ah, wait. Sorry. Let me introduce myself,” he says, grin small and friendly. Hopefully. He’s _trying_ to be friendly. “My name is Park Chanyeol. I work in the research department, so we haven’t had a chance to meet yet.” He bows respectfully, and Jongin slowly bows back. “How has it been working for our Dark Lord?” he tries to joke. 

Jongin frowns and stares at Chanyeol like he’s speaking a foreign language. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about… If you mean Mr. Do, then you should know that he’s a great boss, and I don’t think you should call him things like that. Mr. Do might look scary at times, but that’s because he can’t see well without his glasses. He’s also very quiet and to the point most of the time; however, that’s because he is a busy man with a lot on his mind. It’s not fair of you to-”

“Calm down, Jongin. Chanyeol doesn’t mean anything by it, and I really don’t mind the nicknames,” Kyungsoo cuts in, walking in the doorway and heading straight for the coffee pot to fill up his mug. Chanyeol thinks Jongin has a case of idol worship going on. He wonders how Kyungsoo has managed to instill such loyalty in this assistant in three weeks when all the other assistants have fled. “In fact,” Kyungsoo says with a quick smile that instantly softens his face, “I kind of like it when they call me things like that. It’s better for my ego than jokes about my height.”

Jongin’s brows are furrowed and his mouth is dropped open in surprise. A dusting of pink lays across his cheeks. He’s probably in shock because of how talkative Kyungsoo is being – it _is_ rare to hear him use so many words at once. That’s the only explanation Chanyeol can think of when Jongin wordlessly allows Kyungsoo to take the sugar dish from his hands, too star-struck to realize his mistake.

Almost as if he is watching a movie play out on the big screen, Chanyeol sees Kyungsoo drop two spoons of ‘sugar’ in his cup. He stirs, turning to smile at the other two over the rim as he goes to take a sip. And then he’s spitting out a mouthful of hot coffee, spraying the cabinets and Chanyeol’s tie with the brown liquid. He hastily wipes his tongue on a napkin, making the funniest faces Chanyeol’s ever seen the entire time. 

When he can finally speak again, his voice is a little garbled and strange like his tongue isn’t cooperating properly. He stares at Jongin with wide eyes, brows raised high on his forehead. “Jongin? Why did you put salt in my sugar dish?” 

Jongin, the poor child, looks like a terrified puppy. Sehun’s description was spot on. Chanyeol takes mercy on him before he faints from the stress of disappointing his hero. 

“Don’t blame the kid, Soo. I hate when other people get the credit for one of my masterful pranks. This one was a PCY Special, just for you.” He shoots finger guns at Kyungsoo, winking and grinning with more confidence than he really feels. Pranking Kyungsoo in secret is fine. His friend is used to it by now, after all. But pranking CEO Do in front of other employees might not end well for Chanyeol. Kyungsoo hates looking like a fool in front of people he’s not close to, and he is an expert at holding grudges. This is all turning out to be so much more stressful than Chanyeol had planned. 

It takes a very, very long moment (during which Chanyeol is beginning to sweat under his suit jacket while he feels Jongin’s worried gaze burning the side of his face) for Kyungsoo to react. “I should have known. Jongin is too nice for something like this, and you’re just dumb enough to try it,” Kyungsoo replies with a withering glare. He rolls his eyes and makes a big show about forcing Chanyeol to retrieve the real sugar – Chanyeol laughs nervously when he gets it from the top shelf – but when he leaves, he nudges Chanyeol in the side with his elbow and sends him a small smile. 

“Not so cocky after all, huh?” Jongin asks as soon as Kyungsoo is gone, and Chanyeol’s shoulders are sagging in relief. That ended a lot better than it could have. 

He huffs and crosses his arms over his chest. “It was going fine until you started rambling about how great Kyungsoo is. How am I supposed to pull off genius pranks, brightening the day of everyone around here and overall improving the company’s morale, when you’re going all poetic about Kyungsoo’s evil glare?”

“I was not!” Jongin fumes, blushing furiously. “I-I didn’t realize you and Mr. Do were friends. He doesn’t talk about personal things very often. And, well, uh,” he says, voice lowering as he ruffles his hair and fidgets in place, “I thought you were kind of hot when I first walked in here, and I was sort of disappointed because I thought you were talking bad about our boss, trying to trick him for malicious reasons, and that’s rude. So… I guess I was taking my disappointment out on you and trying to teach you to be more respectful.” 

Jongin’s face is positively fire engine red now. 

Chanyeol, for the first time probably ever, is speechless. His mind is torn between freaking out because Jongin thinks he’s hot(?!) and gushing over how adorable Jongin is, trying to right the wrongs in the world, one jerk at a time. 

Chanyeol clears his throat, fighting back the heat radiating from his own cheeks. He nods as if struck by sudden inspiration. “The artificial sweetener here makes the coffee taste like dirty dish water. And, strictly speaking, we’re not supposed to touch Kyungsoo’s sugar. So, maybe sometime we could go to the café down the street. Get some of the real stuff. ” His eyes meet Jongin’s for a second before he hastily looks away, nervously tugging at the cuff of his sleeve. “You could teach me how to properly behave towards my boss.”

Jongin laughs, throwing his head back and opening his mouth wide in a way that completely transforms his face. It’s alarming that Chanyeol still finds him cute, even when he sounds like dying seal. When he calms down, he pushes his glasses up his nose and smirks back, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Or we could discuss more ways to ‘improve company morale.’ I have a bag of fake insects that I use to scare my roommate with – Zitao screams like a girl every time! Wait, I think I have a video, actually,” Jongin trails off, pulling his phone out. “What’s your number? I’ll send it to you. It’s hilarious; you have to see it!” 

_Smooth,_ Chanyeol thinks as he takes a second to admire Jongin’s profile. He’s still looking at his phone, trying to appear super casual, but Chanyeol can see the tips of his ears burning crimson. Chanyeol is too impressed by Jongin’s boldness to call him out on it, though. He rattles the number off, and Jongin nods, sending the video of a blond haired, cat-eyed boy jumping on a table to avoid a fake bug on the floor. Jongin’s loud, raucous laughter in the video almost drowns out the screeches from the boy demanding he kill the bug. 

Jongin grins up at him through his glasses, eyes bright and gleaming. “What do you think about replacing the liquid soap dispensers in the bathrooms with strawberry lube? Will Mr. Do _actually_ kill you for that?”

Chanyeol is speechless because Jongin is getting hotter and hotter by the second. A cute, sexy guy that is smart, loyal and likes to play pranks? _Thank you, benevolent universe!_ Chanyeol has literally never done anything is his life to deserve this blessing. Instead of gushing about his instant crush, Chanyeol manages to reply semi-coherently with only minimal blushing on his part. 

“I like the way you think, Jongin. Tell me more.”

They walk out of the breakroom together, both needing to get back to work but reluctant to part ways. Chanyeol’s got his arm thrown over Jongin’s shoulder, their heads leaning together so they can conspire, trying to figure out just how much they can get away with. 

They’ve just met, but Chanyeol thinks he might already be in love. Maybe this whole plan _was_ the will of the universe. And, as Chanyeol’s said before, who is he to question that?


End file.
